Remember
by AriadneIS
Summary: Jenny loves Tom. She KNOWS she does. Then why does the loss of Julian hurt her so much? And why does she feel she can't let go? Jenny/Julian, first fanfic
1. Pain

Jenny was watching.

After the events in Pennsylvania, that was all she ever did. Watched herself from windows and doors. Trying to fill the gap she knew was there.

Sometimes she would see a snakeskin. Or a tiny pawprint. Or sometimes – if she was very lucky – a flash of blue, blue sky.

Today, she was watching the world.

Arranging her legs on the grassy hill, she watched Tom take her hand and the flash of his white smile. She saw Audrey's coppery hair flutter and Zach's long-fingered hand rummage through his lunch bag.

Dee smiled, too, and then the whole group started chuckling.

"Come on, sunshine. Laugh a little. It won't kill you," she said coaxingly.

"What? What did I miss?" Jenny glanced around in embarrassment. She met all of their eyes in turn, but no one responded.

"I happened to make a joke," said Michael in a tragic voice. "It could have been wonderful. You might have adored it. But that is not to be. Never! Never!"

"Shut him _up_," moaned Dee, and Audrey obligingly leaned over and kissed him, effectively stopping his theatrics. A smile spread over Michael's face as he kissed her back.

Jenny felt an empty stab of pain shoot through her. Dee was going on about how she really shouldn't be in her head all the time when Jenny bolted to her feet.

"I… I need to go." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tom rise halfway, but she turned and ran as Summer pulled him back down to the ground.

Jenny was out of sight in another minute.

Sprinting through the school hallways. Tears blurring her eyes. She had no idea where she was going. _I'm really a mess_, Jenny thought, but she couldn't muster the strength to care. Even thinking seemed like too much effort.

She ducked into an empty locker bay and leaned against the wall, tears running down her face. What was going on? She loved Tom. She _knew_ she did. But why did the slightest thing remind her? And why did it hurt so much?

Remembering…

The harsh bell stopped her thoughts, and Jenny sighed with relief. She didn't want to follow that again. She couldn't, not now.

Rubbing her eyes, she slipped into the crowd. With a little luck, she could get to class without seeing her friends and trying to explain herself. So wrapped up in her thoughts that she wasn't watching where she was going, Jenny found herself slipping on the polished floor…

And landing in the arms of a senior boy. She glared at him.

"Hey, Blondie, you don't look too good. You all right?"

"I'm fine," she spat, more irritated with herself than her savior. "Will you let go of me now?"

He balanced her carefully on her feet, allowing his hands to linger a bit too long. She glared. "Let. Go. Now."

He grinned. "Just being friendly. If you ever want to hang out sometime…"

"Thank you, but I believe that won't be happening," said a cool voice from behind her. Seeing Tom's familiar face, Jenny felt oddly tenser. She wasn't ready to speak to either boy at the moment. Tom added a succinct "Goodbye."

As they walked away, Tom tried to put his arm around her. She flinched away, almost without meaning to. Again, Jenny saw a flash of hurt across Tom Locke's face. But he dropped his arm.


	2. Honesty

**Disclaimer! I am not L.J Smith. I forgot to put that in the last one since this is my first fanfic and I'm not sure how to use the site properly. **

**Review! I love them!**

The rest of school passed Jenny in a blur, as it started to rain. She saw Tom's face, crumpled and hurt. Dee's annoyance. Audrey and Michael, living their happy ending. Where was hers?

The anguish had started by the time she reached her car. She threw herself into the seat and stared out the window, not making a move to leave the lot. For all she cared, she would stay there forever.

And since she was…

Jenny allowed herself a brief vision of Julian.

Frost-white hair, falling into eyes the color of a summer dawn. Looking out under long, dark lashes that were fading…fading… until she was only watching a vanishing image.

Jenny wondered how long it would be until the last echoes died away. A solitary tear slid down her cheek.

It could have been minutes or hours, but someone was tapping the window.

"Open the door! Open the door, _cherie_, it's cold out here!" Audrey's face was swimming in front of the wet glass. Jenny opened the door.

"About time!" yelped Dee, shaking drops of rain out of her hair and onto Summer, the last of the impromptu cheer-up-Jenny group. "I don't want gills."

The three girls squeezed their way into the car.

"What happened, Jenny?" Asked Summer in her quiet way. "You looked like you didn't want Tom following you, so I tried to stop him."

She nodded her thanks. "I… I guess I just…I didn't…" Jenny trailed off and looked around helplessly.

Audrey raised her eyebrows. "It's what happened before, isn't it?"

Nobody said anything for almost a minute.

Finally Jenny nodded. "Yes. It is what happened… before. I can't seem to stop dwelling on it… and every time something normal happens, it just reminds me of him."

Dee nodded sympathetically, but frowned. "Sunshine, we can't let that rule our lives. It happened. It was bad. But it's over. We're safe; we won't play another game – what else could happen?"

Summer voiced her agreement, wrapping a small arm around her friend. Audrey, however, was frowning as well.

"Jenny, why can't you let go? It's been months now… there wasn't anything…" she looked thoughtful, then grinned a bit. "You still love him, don't you?"

Even the words sent a tremor through her chest. "I don't know…" _Do I?_ "It doesn't matter now – I –" her voice broke as another tear rolled down her face. But another vision of Julian surfaced, passion heating his blue eyes, and Jenny realized that it _did_ matter. It mattered far, far too much.

Dee shrugged. "If it matters or not is your decision. Because Jenny, you can't chase a shadow all your life." Her words were harsh – but true. She nodded.

"I'm all right, guys. I'm fine. I – I need to goo home now. Can I go?"

They nodded, and Jenny ushered them out of the car. As it turned around the bend, she couldn't help the vision of a pair if blue eyes.


	3. Confrontaion

**I still don't own anything. Please Review! Please please please! **

Jenny was dreaming. Watching endless shadows shift and remorph into hands that scrabbled at her clothes, pulling her down…down…

She was at the bottom of a well, with fiery blue eyes leaning over the edge. Hard cruel laughter echoed around her as another figure was tossed down beside her…

Julian was tied to the blade of a sword, wincing and crying out with each movement. Jenny ran to him, only to stop when she saw the hatred burning in his eyes. "Don't touch me!" he cried. "This is your fault! You could have saved me!" Jenny reached out to him…

The two of them were running through flames. Behind her, she heard the wails of his angry elders, drawing closer, closer… Julian turned around. "You deserve what they'll do to you." She was falling…

Into her warm bed. She couldn't help crying out, then immediately clapped a hand over her mouth in the hope that no one would hear. This was getting out of hand. She needed to do something before she went crazy – but what?

The next day at school, Jenny spoke to no one. She could hear her six friends talking about her, worrying even, but she didn't respond. What was the point? She didn't even look any of them in the eye until Tom approached her.

"Jenny. Talk to me." She looked up. "Just prove to me that you're all right."

She shook her head, looking around the crowded cafeteria. "I shouldn't have to. I'm fine, Tom."

"You're a rotten liar. What's going on? I want to help and you're shutting me out."

"Oh, Tom. I'm not trying to push you away. But this isn't something you're a part of."

"What?" His face was getting angrier. "I'm a part of all of your life. You _are_ me." 

"No! I'm not! I'm Jenny Thornton. I'm not defined by you. It's not my fault you've never learned that, not even after the games." Suddenly, Jenny just didn't want to deal with this right now. She moved towards where the rest of their group sat, but Tom thrust out an arm.

"Don't you dare! I can't believe you had the nerve to speak of that at all. _He_ is dead now. And good riddance!"

Jenny couldn't believe him. "It's thanks to his sacrifice that your sorry ass is sitting here. You could try being grateful for a change! Forget it. Just forget it, I'm sitting over there. Leave me alone!"

Tom glared. "You know what, I think I will. So don't come back asking why I'm not helping you through this. You want me out of your life? I'm out of it!"

He stormed away, and Jenny watched him go. She felt a deep sense of sorrow, far less than she was used to, but still present. She supposed she still loved him, in her way. But. There always seemed to be a But in her life. They were safe, BUT there were still Julian's elders to deal with. They won the games, BUT they lost the boy who saved them. She loved Tom – BUT the memory of Julian was the only way she felt alive anymore.

Head spinning, Jenny made her way to her friends. She had no sooner reached them than Audrey engulfed her in a hug. Even Zach looked sympathetic.

"Tom just broke up with you, didn't he, _cherie_?"

"I… no? Yes? Kind of?"

Dee rolled her eyes. "I'd say yes, judging by the fact that he's over on the other side of the room, looking like he's about to punch someone's lights out. Well, we can't say we didn't expect this would happen."

Michael nodded in agreement. "You've both changed too much for that relationship to last."

Jenny felt mildly comforted by this. _Maybe it isn't my fault after all…Or maybe it is._

Summer smiled. "Do you want us to stay overnight at your house? You can tell your parents the truth – that you broke up with Tom and you need comforting."

She laughed. "Need comforting? Since when?"

They kept her spirits up for the rest of lunch hour, and only once she had arrived in class did Jenny realize that she hadn't felt upset at all. Maybe losing Tom wasn't a burden…or maybe it was one she could bear the weight of.


	4. Dream

**Nope, still not LJ Smith. Just hoping to avoid lawsuits. Please review and I'll update even faster!**

**Excerpt is also LJ Smith's**

When her friends arrived, Jenny was utterly unprepared. Finding herself embraced on all sides, joked with, teased – it was something out of a dream. She wasn't ready.

But that didn't stop her from laughing a little, talking a little, and allowing herself to relax in the company of Michael, Audrey, Dee, Zach, and Summer. The feeling of normalcy was like breathing air after trying over and over to inhale water.

"Come on, Jenny!" called Audrey from the living room, "We're watching a movie!"

"A movie?" moaned Michael. "I _knew_ I shouldn't have come. You wait; first she'll tie us up. Then we'll be tortured by the stupidest chick flicks ever known to humankind. And once our minds snap…"

Jenny tuned him out as she scurried in. However, she probably should have paid more attention. The movie was awful. Audrey appeared to be the only one enjoying the adventures of a few hairdressers in New York City. Every so often, the others would exchange a look that said "kill us now!"

In fact, Jenny felt her eyelids drooping. Too bored to fight, she slipped into a deep, _immediate_ sleep.

_"You don't need to do that," Julian said, and his voice was very distant. Powerless. "They won't come after you. They don't have a claim anymore."_

_He was lying on his back, eyes looking at the ceiling. He was holding his chest, as if the Shadow Men had cut out his heart instead of his name._

_Jenny took his cold hands in hers._

_So cold. As if he were a figure carved out of ice. His face was that pale, too, and his beauty was like a distant fire reflected in an icicle._

_And it was strange, but at that moment Jenny seemed to see in him all the different ways he had looked before. All his many guises._

_The boy in the More Games shop playing acid house music too loud. The Erlking, in white leather tunic and breeches. The Cyber-Hunter, in sleek body armor, with a blue triangle tattooed on his cheek. The masked dancer at the prom, in a black tuxedo and shirt._

_It was as if each were a facet of a crystal reflecting back at her-and only now could she see the entire crystal for what it was._

_Julian stepping out of the shadows, soft as a shadow himself. Julian wearing Zach's clothing, threatening her with the bees. Julian slipping the gold ring on her finger, sealing the bargain with a kiss. Julian leaning over her as she slept. Julian in the mining cave, his eyes dilated, his gaze shattering._

_And she had never really found the right description for the color of those eyes. At times it had seemed close to this color or that color, but when you got down to it, words really failed. It wasn't like anything except itself._

_Right now she thought she could see something flickering far back in his eyes, like a twisting blue flame in their depths._

_"You can't die," she said, and she was surprised by how calm and matter-of-fact her voice was._

_And Julian, although his eyes were looking somewhere past her, and his voice was weak, was equally calm. He almost seemed to be smiling._

_"The law can't be changed," he said._

_"You can't die," Jenny said. Her fingers were very tight on his, but they only seemed to be getting colder._

"No!" She cried, thrashing helplessly. "No! Julian! Don't…" Her voice broke as she started to sob.

"Sunshine," said a voice she recognized, "It's all right. It's a dream. What happened?"

She opened her eyes to see Dee's dark face leaning over her. "You fell asleep – and I don't blame you – but you kept saying things about Julian. And laws."

Jenny shook her head weakly as tears ran down her face. She had been reliving Julian's death every night since it happened. Every time, she woke up weeping and screaming for him not to go.

Dee looked down at her, quiet and thoughtful. Finally she appeared to come to a decision.

"Sunshine…we need to do something."


	5. Desperation

**Again, I am not LJ Smith. The characters are hers. The plot is mine. **

**I'm pounding out updates – the least you can do is review!**

"Do WHAT, exactly?" Asked Jenny five minutes later. The six of them were seated around the table, still shaken from Jenny's dream and the ensuing excitement.

"Wellllll," said Dee, "I was noticing…"

They waited.

"That Jenny does NOT seem to be over Julian. And is still pining."

Jenny squeaked in indignation.

"Sorry, Jenny, but it's true. Will you leave for a second?"

"No."

"Fine. So what I think is… remember how strong she was during the Games?"

Nods from everyone besides Jenny, who was focusing on enacting revenge upon Dee.

"And I think that came from her and Julian. They help each other. And Julian… the more time he spent around Jenny, the more he would be … I don't know…"

"Less evil?" Put in Michael.

Dee nodded. "They… help each other, almost. But my main point is that Jenny is an absolute mess and needs her soulmate back."

At this point, Jenny was willing to throttle her friend. Slowly and painfully.

"Soooo…" Dee continued, unaware of the danger she was in, "unless we want Jenny to go crazy and commit suicide…"

Jenny revised her plan to drowning in boiling oil. That was almost bad enough.

"We need to get Julian back."

Zach leapt to his feet, breaking the silence that had settled over them all. "No. Way. He is a dangerous killer who…"

"Saved my life," interjected Summer. "In my nightmare. I would have died, and he saved me. And it'll help Jenny."

Zach's eyes softened. He couldn't stand up to her at all.

Audrey shrugged. "If he decides that we are playing another damned _game_, I will personally UNcarve him. But…" She looked at Jenny. "Maybe…"

_I must really look bad,_ she thought. _To make them all think like this…_

"I vote yes," said Michael easily. "After all, if it wasn't for him, NONE of us would be who we are now."

"Then it's settled," said Dee, getting up.


	6. Loss

**I have not become LJ Smith in the time between the last update and now, though it would be interesting if I had :) **

**Shout out to xxxalishababesxxx for making me jump up and down – literally!**

Jenny had no idea what her friends were doing. With everyone rushing around, making plans that seemed to revolve around her, and occasionally huddling back into a group to confer, she not only felt lost, but completely confused.

Finally, she risked asking aquestion.

"You're all trying to bring him back?"

"Against my better judgment," muttered Zach from the floor, "but yeah. No one wants you up and dying of a broken heart. Or, more likely, mourning him all your life until we don't know you anymore."

Jenny smiled despite herself. "And… how are you going to do that? You can't walk into the Home Depot and ask for a runestave!"

"Michael has ideas. Face it, Jenny; you're too much a part of us to lose. I'm amazed Tom managed to drop you." He snorted. "You hold us all together."

She blinked. Somehow, she'd never thought of it that way before. But he was right… Dee the warrior, friends with Audrey the prom princess? Zach, introverted artist, in love with Summer, social butterfly? The only thing most of them had in common…was Jenny.

The thought was kind of humbling. She put it aside for the moment.

"Thanks, Zach," she told her cousin, and got up from the corner she'd sheltered in when the chaos began.

Michael was debating whether or not a specific runestave was needed, or if they had to get the original one.

"I mean, it won't work on just anything. If we don't have the real one, we'd at least need something that would hold enchantments, right?" He asked, and went on before anyone could answer – "We can't just carve runes on a stick!"

"We need the original," said Jenny quietly.

And nobody contested it.

Jenny was swept away on memory. Everywhere she looked, everywhere she moved, there was something that was Julian.

_A lock of hair had fallen into his eyes, white as the dogwood blossoms Jenny had seen by the highway. The mask of icy control was broken, but there was something frightening in its place. A kind of shattering…_

_"But there are lots of beautiful girls. Of course. You're different. There's something inside you that makes you different, a certain kind of spirit. You're -innocent. Sweet, even after everything that's been thrown at you. Gentle, but with a spirit like flame."  
>"I'm not," Jenny said, almost frightened. "Audrey sometimes says I'm too simple - "<br>"Simple as light and air-things people take for granted but that they'd die without. People really should think more about that"…_

_She felt his warm hands close around her arms, steadying her. She stared at his chest, bare under the leather vest and lifting quickly with his breathing. The firelight touched everything with gold…_

_When she touched his lips, she could feel his pain, the almost unendurable pain of someone whose heart was breaking with sadness. What she tasted on those warm, soft lips was unbearable loss. If he'd been dying, or she had, she would have been able to understand such a kiss…_

_He's suffering like that-from losing me? Jenny had never been particularly modest, but she could hardly believe it. She might have rejected the idea outright-except for what she was feeling herself.  
>What she felt ... was a shattering inside…<em>

Jenny couldn't. She _couldn't_. The feeling of having had Julian, strong in her arms, and having him torn away… he had taken half of her with him. And now he was gone.

And her friends were bringing him back.


	7. Plan

**As of yet, I am not LJ Smith. But it's nice to pretend ;) **

**Keep reviewing and I'll keep updating!**

It was late that night. The six of them were yawning around the dining room table. But a long night of "research", if you could call it that, had paid off.

In front of them was a detailed sketch done in Zach's hand, showing the runestave they had all seen the night Julian had died. The runes shining like diamond, tall columns marching across the surface. The stave of Life.

And that was what they were going to steal.

_The thin, scaly fingers of the Shadow Man's other hand were holding a knife. It looked like bone. It glittered like frost._

_"Come on, Jenny," Tom said, not moving._

_"Julian-"_

_"Go on!" Julian said._

_The knife rose and fell._

_Jenny heard herself scream. She saw the slash of the blade, the way the liquid diamond spilled like blood. There was a terrible gash in the stave now, a hideous blank space. A wound. They had carved out Julian's name._

Jenny forced herself into the present, gripping the edge of the table. The memories were coming harder now. But she had to focus.

"The stave of Life." Audrey was nodding. "It's not in Niflheim. According to myths **(a.n. – I made these myths up on the spot. I have no idea where it's kept in real Norse mythology)** it's guarded in caverns, on Svartalfheim. By living shadows."

Michael gulped. "Had enough of those lately."

Jenny nodded. "I'm not asking you to risk you lives – again – for me. You don't need –"

"Shut up, Sunshine," said Dee distinctly. "If it's Svartalfheim he's in, it's to Svartalfheim we go."

Summer giggled weakly, and Zach gave a terse nod. They were agreed.

Then a thought struck Jenny. "Tom. Is he… are we…"

Audrey shrugged. "Wasn't the terms of your spat that he NOT be involved in your life? But I guess you should at least call him, or something… this is partially his fight."

Jenny nodded and reached for the phone, forgetting that it was past midnight. Her parents and brother had gone to sleep long ago, but Tom picked up the phone on the second ring.

"What, Jenny?"

"Look, Tom. The others are over here. We have a plan… regarding the stave of Life."

A long silence dripped its way across the phone lines.

"Regarding the WHAT?"

"The stave of Life. And Julian."

"I see. And why should I be involved in this 'plan regarding the stave of Life and Julian?'"

She winced. "I thought you should know."

"Well, thank you for giving me this useless information. I don't appreciate it. Just stay away, Jenny."

The phone clicked off, and she sighed heavily. "He wants nothing whatsoever to do with it. Or us, apparently."

Summer squeezed her hand. "We're working on it, Jenny. We're working on it."


	8. Preparation

**Hooray for everyone who reviewed and made my day **

**I own nothing besides the plot!**

Jenny yawned, sitting up stiffly from where she had fallen asleep on the floor. The memory of everything that had happened the night before swept over her, and she grinned with an inexpressible joy.

_We're going to find him. We're going to save him!_

The excitement was so powerful it bordered on pain.

She looked around at everyone, most of whom were still sleeping with their heads on the table. As she looked around, she spotted Summer yawn and sit up.

"Morning, Jenny," she said absentmindedly. "Is your family gone?"

She nodded. "It's Saturday. Tomorrow's the last week of school. I'll bet Joey's out with friends, and Mom and Dad are doing whatever they do."

Her friend nodded. "Then it's time to nail down a few details before we…go. Michael! Get up!"

Said boy moaned and lifted his head an inch. "What?"

"We need to figure some things out. First of all, how are we getting into the shadow world? And then how are we getting out of it and into Svartalfheim? And once we get there, how are we finding the stave? And then how do we know what to carve? And…"

"Easy, sun bunny, take it easy," said Dee, stretching up from her chair. "The More Games Store is still there, even if Julian isn't. It's a halfway point. I have no idea how to get to Svartalfheim. The stave could be anywhere… and I guess Jenny will know what to carve… Now that I think about it, it isn't much of a plan."

"We have the store," reminded Jenny. "That's something."

"Right," agreed Zach, blinking sleep out of his eyes. "We have the store."

Jenny grinned. "Time to get going."

She reached for her cell phone. "Could everyone call their parents? I think we're doing the sleepover swap."

Audrey laughed. "Again?"

But within fifteen minutes, everyone's parents believed that they were staying over at someone else's house that night, and leaving directly to school.

"I think that's enough time," sighed Jenny, looking around at her friends. They were all ready in some way.

Audrey's hair was pulled up and away from her face. Dee was clutching a Swiss Army knife in one hand. Michael was wearing cargo pants equipped with everything he could even consider needing, and held tight in Jenny's right hand was her own talisman – a thin golden ring that said – _I am my only master._

Summer smiled at Jenny. "I'm glad you've come back to life. We missed you. And I guess if we want to keep you, we'd better go."

Nods from around the circle as without a backward glance, the group of six filed out the door and headed downtown.


	9. Journey

**Thank Yous to everyone who read this! You keep my motivation up.**

**Shout out to mandidawna for reviewing and encouraging!**

**See earlier disclaimers, I'm running out of creative ways to say that I'm not LJ Smith.**

The mural in front of Jenny was giving her the most incredible sense of déjà vu. She fought with her mind to stay in the present.

_Stay here, stay here, don't remember…_

The group exchanged glances, and Dee reached out a hand to the doorknob. This was it. The point of no return.

The door swung open.

_"Can I help you?"_

_The voice spoke from right behind her. Jenny turned-and lost her breath._

_Eyes. Blue eyes. Except that they weren't just blue, they were a shade Jenny couldn't describe. The only place she'd seen a blue like that was once when she'd happened to wake up at the precise instant of dawn. Then, between the window curtains, she'd glimpsed an unbelievable, luminous color, which had lasted only a second before fading to the ordinary blue of the sky._

_No boy should have eyes as blue as that, and especially not surrounded by lashes so heavy they seemed to weigh his eyelids down. This boy had the most startling coloring she'd ever seen. His eyelashes were black, but his hair was white-true white, the color of frost or tendrils of mist. He was ... well, beautiful. But in the most exotic, uncanny way imaginable, as if he'd just stepped in from another world…_

Here! Now! Focus, Jenny, get a hold on yourself.

They stepped into the room.

It was exactly, exactly as Jenny had remembered it. The triangular chessboard and the cup of runes. Even the loud, acid house music was still playing – but it sounded thin, now, and lonely. A chill slid up Jenny's spine.

They stood in a tight knot.

"Well?" Asked Dee, finally. "There's the door."

Michael gulped. "Right. The door."

They stood around it, each preparing themselves for whatever was going to happen when the thin black door opened. Finally, Dee stretched out a hand and grasped the knob.

"Ready?" She asked quietly, looking at the others. Unanimous agreement.

"Then let's do this."


	10. Trap

**See previous disclaimers!**

The door opened onto nothing. Just…nothing. Jenny watched a narrow curl of mist weave its way into the shop, but beyond the door there was nothing but whiteness and fog. Dee stepped forward.

"Don't!" Summer cried out, almost involuntarily, but Dee grinned from within the doorway.

"I'm okay! Step one – stay alive to enter the shadow world."

"I'll work on that," muttered Jenny as she followed. The ground – if that was what it was – under her feet was spongy, giving a little as the others pattered through the door.

"The door's gone now," said Zach casually, as though commenting on the weather. "Just so you know."

And looking back, the sliver of light cast by the entrance to the More Games Store had vanished.

The group had been walking for over an hour by the time they saw light again. It was an eerie reddish glow, cast by God-knew-what. Jenny didn't want to think about it.

The others saw it as well – judging by Summer's tension and Michael's quick breaths – but no one could tell what it was, and no one really wanted to. Still, Jenny found herself stepping forward until the edge of the light brushed over her face.

She started to smile.

"Jenny?" Asked Audrey nervously. "Jenny? Are you all right?"

She smiled more. Wherever the light was leading…she needed to follow it. It would give her her heart's desire … Julian! It would give her Julian. She needed to go.

YES JENNY said the light, mind to mind. COME JENNY, YES. COME JENNY

Without a word, she turned and started to walk.

Something was pulling on her arm. She shook it off. Voices were calling her name. She ignored all of them but the one that she needed. The one that would take her where she needed to go.

A hand collided with her face. She blinked vaguely and continued, ignoring the throbbing pain. THEY ARE NOT IMPORTANT, JENNY

And they weren't. Until a feeling of cold metal bit into her palm. She felt blood well up, but it was only when the smell of salt registered that she cried out and fell to the ground.

The light was gone, and in its place was Dee. "Jenny! Thank God! I'm so sorry!" She realized that Dee was holding the Swiss Army knife, and her hand was still bleeding. Dee was tying a strip of cloth around the cut.

"You wouldn't wake up," said Michael nervously. "You were in some kind of trance. I don't know where we are now…we chased after you for so long…"

Jenny gasped, only then beginning to make the connection.

"We have to go! We have to go back NOW! That wasn't the way, it was…"

She was interrupted by a melodious voice.

"Can we take you? We can carry you."


	11. Decisions

**I know you must hate me for the cliffhanger – but it worked better **

**Keep reviewing! Please! **

**The characters are all LJ Smith's**

Jenny looked around in desperation. There was no way out, only mist and empty ground. And, of course, the three beings that stood on the path in front of them.

They were all much larger than a human – and much more deadly.

Jenny watched them, trying not to let her panic show. This was her fault – she had led them into this trap. She had to get them out. Summer was whimpering quietly, but standing tall. Dee was in a crouch, ready to spring.

Jenny didn't dare take in the appearance of the Shadow Men. She had the feeling that if she looked at them head-on, their sheer _wrongness_ would push her over the edge. She needed to stay calm.

The shadows were conferring amongst themselves in a scraping language Jenny didn't understand. She stepped forward.

"Look. We're trespassing in your world. But you're still bound by ancient laws. You no longer have a claim on us, not after…Julian…was sacrificed. We are willing to go…"

"Go?" Said a soft voice like wind in leaves. "And deny us such a …_succulent_ meal? I think not."

She shivered in fear. "You don't…you can't…"

"Can't we?" In that moment she was reminded of Julian at his most dangerous. But he was nothing – _nothing_ – to these creatures.

The tallest began to move forward. "I think" – he spoke a name like an icicle falling into snow – "would be _quite_ pleased to find these six on his doorstep. Do you disagree?"

"Yes," said the one with a voice like wind, "Let's take them straight to Hella. Perhaps we have a chance at another, better feast if we cook them first, hmm?"

Audrey shook her head wildly, her brown eyes panicked. "_Mais non! Il ne faut pas que vous nous tuès. Mal idée! Nous pouvons t'aider…"_

Jenny blinked. "I don't think they know French."

And that was the last thing she remembered before she woke up on a cold marble floor.


	12. Chances

**I just seem to keep pounding these out – I want to know where this is going as much as you do. **

**Review, please!**

**See other disclaimers!**

Jenny moaned, rolling over onto her side. Even doing that hurt, and she grimaced as her head pounded.

"Dee? Audrey? All of you?" She whispered into the darkness.

"What? I don't merit being called by name?" Asked a familiar voice, in a familiar tone.

"Michael?" If he was feeling well enough to be sarcastic, there was definite hope.

"You're the first one to wake up besides me," he explained as Jenny moved all of her limbs, trying to determine her injuries. Apart from bruises and a cut over one eye, she seemed fine. "We're in some kind of cell."

She sighed. "I'm SO sorry…"

"Ah, whatever. Odds are Dee's going to think this was fun. There's a sliver of good news, by the way."

"Really?" Asked Summer, who had come awake without them noticing.

"Yeah. I saw when we were coming in. This is at the very edge of Niflheim. Right outside this…place…is the joining of the worlds."

Jenny grinned. In fact, if she wasn't so sore, she would have laughed. "Then we just have to…"

Escape an impenetrable fortress and flee the Queen of the Dead. To his credit, Michael didn't say it.

It took another hour for everyone to awaken and take in the situation. They weren't tied up – but they might as well have been. Their cell was ten feet square, made of perfectly fused marble. A tiny influx of air came from somewhere, but there didn't appear to be a door.

They were trapped, and trapped well.

After several frantic attacks on the walls, and running their fingers over every tiny crack,

They were forced to conclude that fact.

Zach groaned, leaning against an unoccupied bit of stone. "Don't you DARE say that this isn't that bad, Dee."

"I'm not, trust me," said Dee through gritted teeth. Jenny looked at her in surprise until she remembered that her friend was claustrophobic. It was_ her_ nightmare that had created the cave in the last game – the cave where Julian had pulled her from the water…

_Here and Now. Here and Now. _

"I am my only master, Dee. Remember?"

She nodded weakly, and Summer squeezed over towards them both. "You've been too tense, both of you. Rest a little. Nothing's going to happen for a while, apparently."

This time Jenny gave the weak nod, already half drifting…

_could feel herself trembling slightly. Her nerves jangling with excitement-and fear. But he didn't even touch her, at first. He just looked at her, with an expression she'd never seen on his face before. A look of wonder. The tenderness she'd seen when he was impersonating Zach._

_"Are you frightened?" he said._

_"A little." She was trying not to show it. She said lightly, "So you're the youngest Shadow Man."_

_"And the nicest."_

_"I believe that," Jenny said earnestly._

_He did touch her, then, fingers light on her hair. Jenny felt the little inner stillness, the change in perception that comes before response. She shut her eyes and told herself not to think, not to feel anything but the featherlike touch. The lighter it was, the more it moved her._

"Jenny!"

She jolted awake. The wall was opening.


	13. Ally

**Hey – entries might slow down after the weekend, because as much as I love this story, school takes high priority. But thanks for reading, and I'll try to get up at least one a day!**

**See earlier disclaimer.**

Jenny looked around frantically. The others were all sleeping – so who had called her name?

She kicked them awake, scrambling to one side of the door as Dee did the same. The hole opened – opened – and stopped. Nothing happened. They all exchanged glances.

Finally, Dee slipped out into the dim light. Still, nothing happened, save the tensed breath of the other five prisoners.

She beckoned a dark hand, waiting until everyone had crept out before starting towards the world-bridges.

"I don't like this…" Whispered Summer, before Michael's hand clapped over her mouth.

They were a hundred feet away…fifty feet…twenty…Jenny tensed, waiting for the attack. Because it _had_ to be coming. There was no way they hadn't noticed…was there?

Ten feet…five…Dee was a step away… she hesitated and shot Jenny a look that said, _If I step on this bridge, what will happen?_

When no answer came, she put her foot down tentatively. Nothing happened. A smile spread across her face, and she stepped out farther. The others followed, until they were perched on the island between all the worlds.

Dee threw back her head and laughed. "What happened?"

Summer shook her head. "That wasn't right. That _shouldn't_ have happened. They don't lock us up in a secure fortress of a cell and then decide to open the door!"

"The sun bunny's right," said Michael from a point near the edge. "That was someone helping us from the inside. Why do we have an ally?"

"And are they an ally at all?" Asked Zach. "Or trying to make us owe them?"

Audrey shook her head. "Someone helped us for some reason. We're grateful, but let's go before our _non_ – allies see that we've escaped, hmm?"

Agreement from the group.

"Then let's go to Svartalfheim."


	14. Flight

**Still not L.J. Smith!**

**If you review, I will be your friend forever.**

The slide to Svartalfheim, the subterranean world, was more terrifying than anything they had faced yet. With each twist if the path, Jenny was sure she would slip and plunge God-knew-how-far to the ground.

But…there WAS no ground here. The thought made the ride somehow more frightening, instead of less. Falling forever, never ending…

Jenny shivered.

After an eternity – a forever of twists and turns and silent screams – she fell into a pile of rocks.

Wonderful.

The others picked themselves up alongside her and shook out aching muscles. 

"Well, we're here," said Michael, wincing. Audrey kicked him in the shin. "Just so we're all certain on that point."

"So…what now?" That was Zach. "Do we look in every cave until we find it? 'Cause I doubt that will work."

Dee snorted. "We _could_ get ourselves captured again… that would lead us to wherever the leader of this place is."

"No more capturing." Said Summer firmly. "Ever. At all."

Jenny stayed quiet as they bickered, still feeling guilty about leading them into a trap on Niflheim. So she was the only one who saw the shadow.

It rippled up, danced across the stone, and then scurried away. Whipping her head around, Jenny caught a glimpse of another figure, quickly ducking beneath an outcropping. She gripped Dee's arm.

"Uh…I think if we don't want to get captured…" She trailed off, but it was definitely enough to get her friends' attention.

"Look, over there. Behind…" The shadow reared up and swept towards them. "Never mind. I think we should RUN!"

They ran.

In fact, they were so intent on avoiding the shadows that they failed to notice when the sound of pursuit stopped. They ran, on and on and on until Summer slipped on a loose stone and tumbled to the ground.

"Where…are we?" She asked, struggling to her feet and looking around.

Jenny looked, too, and was amazed. They were in the largest cavern she had ever seen. An eerie silver light emanated from the ceiling, providing just enough illumination to see their surroundings.

The jagged rocks that loomed from the floor were easily ten feet high. A spreading underground lake, crystal clear, dominated the center of the cave, and the sound of water dripping drop by drop was the only thing that she heard.

The unearthliness of it was amazing – but she found herself grimacing and turning away.

"It's so… odd," breathed Audrey, staring at the ceiling. "Look…"

Jenny didn't. Instead, her gaze was drawn to a dark corner, wedged between two stone spires. Were the shadows still moving? No…but they were wrapped around something.

She took a step forward, extending her hand. And gasped.


	15. Need

**See all my other disclaimers. **

**Review and the reunion between Julian/Jenny will be next chapter! Actually, it'll be next chapter even if you don't review, but it's nice of you to motivate me!**

"Dee…" Jenny's voice was thin. "DEE!"

"What?" Her friend was automatically in a defensive stance. "Is it more of those…things? Where are they?"

"No. Look, Dee!" Jenny ran to the corner before they could stop her, but the shadows didn't attack. Instead, they writhed away. "Look!"

Jenny, blinded by excitement, put her hand directly through a clinging shadow. Summer started to scream, but even that simply died and withered. She emerged clinging to a stave, made of darkly polished wood.

The runes marching in columns along the sides were like liquid diamonds. It was the picture of brilliance – except for the gaping blankness that twisted around the spirals of letters. The place where Julian was.

The Stave of Life.

"Is…Is that it, then?" asked Michael quietly.

Jenny nodded. She ran her fingers over the smooth wood, smiling to herself. The emptiness inside her seemed to be lessening even as she held it. Held tightly to hope.

"This is it!" She cried, laughing giddily. "This is it!"

But of course, life was never that easy.

Jenny was just starting to lower the stave when the cracking noise began. Zach swore loudly, and then the entire roof was groaning.

"MOVE!" Cried Audrey, frantically looking for a way out.

But the tunnel was gone – melted into the shadows.

The panic rising in Jenny made it harder and harder to think. They had seconds… _Damn it, Jenny, do something! _

Then it hit her. "Come on!" She ran for the crystalline lake. She could only hope that what she'd seen was real – and not just another illusion. Without stopping, she dove in and gasped at the chill.

"Come on! Move!" Dee, understanding, jumped in beside her, dragging Michael, as Jenny reached up and grabbed Audrey's shirt. Summer dove in in desperation, barely slipping beneath the surface as the first rock hit the ground where she'd been standing.

Jenny signaled frantically for the others to follow her.

_Please, be here; please don't let me have imagined it…_

And she was swimming through a tunnel, the stave of Life pressing against her burning lungs. Another rock hit the surface of the water as she rode the currents the others had kicked up.

_Come on, come on, please…_

And her head broke the surface. Gasping, she pulled herself up onto a rock and looked at her surroundings as her friends splashed to the surface.

They were in the smallest grotto Jenny had ever seen, barely large enough for all of them to sit. But it was sheltered, and air filtered in through a crack in the low ceiling.

Summer laughed. "We're alive! We're okay!"

Jenny grinned along. "Everyone here?"

Dee was pale and gasping like a fish. "Mm-hmm… I was…last…"

"Hey, Dee, what's…" then Jenny realized. There wasn't a foot of space to spare where they were. "Easy, Dee. I am my only master."

Dee nodded weakly. Jenny reluctantly took off her ring. "Here. Just Relax."

Maneuvering around Michael, she slipped it into the callused hand. " Oh. Dee! I need your knife."

"What? Now?"

"Your knife. I need it. I don't care where we are!" Jenny realized that she was starting to cry. "I _need_ it. I need him, Dee."

Dee gave her a long look. But she slipped the knife across the stone.


	16. Memory

**Here it is! The big important climax! You know you want to read it – and review it. (ahem.)**

**I'm still not the original author!**

Jenny gripped the knife so hard, her knuckles were white. Her other hand was wrapped around the Stave, gently holding it in place. She was ready.

"Michael?" She asked. "I know you said you knew what to do."

"Well…kind of. But I don't think his name is Julian just because it sounds like _djinn _or _aljunnu _or whatever. If you translate it into runes – It's Jakiz. For emotion. Julian was the only one who could feel. Uruz. For piercing the veil between the worlds. What else did he do?"

Jenny nodded, gripping the Stave harder than ever.

"Letta. For Justice, and honor. He always kept his word – and he played by the rules. Isa. For ice, but also power. Adsi. For determination and perseverance. And Nauthiz…"

"For containment." Jenny's voice was soft.

For a while, the only sound was Dee's rapid breathing. Jenny's thoughts were racing.

_What if he comes back different? And hates me for never trying to save him? _A flash of her nightmare – _"You deserve what they'll do to you."_ She shook with cold, and something else. Fear? Love?

Then she gripped the knife. _I will love him anyway. I don't care it he's not who he was. Are any of us who we were before the Games? _She could do this.

The tip of the knife opened the first cut. A screaming started to echo in her ears. The glittering liquid she had seen at Julian's death was dripping from the wood.

_His hair was shining like lightning, like quicksilver. His whole being seemed full of elemental energy -of frightening intensity. And his eyes were the unbelievable, luminous blue of the precise moment before dawn._

Jakiz.

_"We have a right to a kill!"_

_"Then take it!" Julian shouted. "But you won't get past me!"_

Uruz.

_And she had never really found the right description for the color of those eyes. At times it had seemed close to this color or that color, but when you got down to it, words really failed. It wasn't like anything except itself._

Letta.

_"You showed me what it was like to love. What the universe could be like, if."_

Isa. Tears were running down her cheeks, wetting the silken wood.

_"Whatever else I did, I loved you"…_

Adsi.

_"Nothing really dies, as long as it's not forgotten"…_

Nauthiz. 

_Julian stepping out of the shadows, soft as a shadow himself. Julian wearing Zach's clothing, threatening her with the bees. Julian slipping the gold ring on her finger, sealing the bargain with a kiss. Julian leaning over her as she slept. Julian in the mining cave, his eyes dilated, his gaze shattering._

Julian! JULIAN!

JULIAN!

And a figure was rising from the water.


	17. Reunion

**Sorry if this one's extra long (800 words!) with a longer wait. I hope it's worth it! It gave me hell to write – I really, really wanted to make it perfect.**

**Shout out to Anita - here it is! **

**See earlier disclaimers! **

The water a few feet away from Jenny was starting to quiver. She watched it wide-eyed, not daring to breathe in case the motion went away. She heard a clang of metal on stone as Dee dropped the ring.

Then a white-haired head split the surface.

Jenny gasped, and a pair of impossibly blue eyes widened at the sound. They flashed up, and Jenny saw amazement, wonder, and … was it love?

She didn't stay still long enough to find out, desperately reaching out and pulling him to the rock.

"Julian! Julian!"

Gracefully as anything else he did, the Shadow Man levered himself into the tiny space and was at her side in another second.

"_Jenny_? What happened? Oh, Jenny…" his water-on-rock voice was soft, disbelieving.

For she had burst into happy tears. "I… I didn't think I'd…" She sobbed into his chest as his arms rose around her protectively. Though it didn't create a feeling of safety, the gesture told her without words that she was still loved.

She paid minimal attention as the others explained all that had happened since Julian's unmaking. She didn't notice that the water dripping off of Julian's black clothes. In fact, she paid little attention to anything besides the fact that he was _here_, strong and real.

Something, despite their efforts, that she'd never believed would happen again.

It was some time later that she lifted her face from his chest and looked into his eyes, only to find him staring back in equal joy, the flame of passion she'd seen in her dreams still burning. The blue of his eyes was deep enough to drown in.

But she didn't get the chance before he gently lifted her chin and kissed her as he had never kissed her before.

Jenny's mind reeled. This was what she had missed. The feeling of Julian there, soft under her lips, and the feeling of danger lurking just under the surface. Jenny never wanted it to stop.

It was him that pulled away, looking deeply into her face. She realized that he could see every tear she had shed for him, every nightmare, and every stab of pain. When he spoke again, his voice was broken.

"I did this to you, didn't I? It was me. I dimmed the light."

Jenny shook her head.

"No. It isn't important now, because it will never happen again."

He nodded sincerely, pulling her against him. "Never. I swear it." He leaned in to kiss her once more, sending waves of emotion and adrenaline through her.

However, the moment was broken by Michael, who looked as though he wanted to stick his fingers in his ears and hum loudly. "If you're quite through…"

Jenny glared at him with her hands on either side of Julian's face. "What is it? And why can't it wait?"

"We're still stuck. If you two _ever_ want privacy, we need to get out of this sardine can. And Dee isn't doing well, either."

Jenny immediately felt guilty, moving away and taking in her friend's pale face and shallow breaths. She looked ready to pass out.

"Dee?" The dark eyes opened a little.

"Hey, Sunshine."

"Come on. We're trying to get out of here."

"Out of here would be good." She looked around again. "Good to see Julian's the same as ever."

He nodded and flashed the wolfish, dangerous grin Jenny remembered from the Games. But instead of filling her with fear, or worse, pain, she felt the warm trembling of love.

She forced herself to focus for a _very_ different reason.

Julian reached up towards the top of the ceiling, and his eyes widened.

"You brought down the whole cavern?" His voice was quaking with suppressed amusement.

"Yep," said Audrey in a muffled voice. "And I hope we never do again."

"Well, that might be…but how did you even get in?" His voice was curious, now, as he put his arm around Jenny, making her shiver.

"I don't know…" said Summer from a corner. "There were these … _things_ chasing after us… and then we ended up here…but then Jenny just put her hand through the shadows."

Jenny shrugged. "I wasn't thinking about that. Just that I needed the Stave."

"Well…I guess it wasn't…" He broke off as the creaking of the roof registered. "We need to get out of here. Soon."

**There we go! Feel free to love or hate – and review and tell me about it! Give it to me straight – I'm unoffendable. **

**Updates as soon as I can!**


	18. Escape

**Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I love you all!**

**I still do not own these characters – though I wish I did, especially everyone's favorite Shadow Man :)**

"What? Why?"

Zach started to spring to his feet, only to smack his head on the rock and fall back down. "What happened?"

Julian's face was tense. "The shadows…They're trying to bring down more of the roof. If that happens…the water will rise and flood us out. And we will most definitely die."

If Jenny hadn't known him, she would have sworn that he was facing the idea of his death with no emotion whatsoever. But when his eyes met hers, she saw fear and love, laced through with the determination he was named for. It gave her strength.

She shook her head. "There's a way out. I _know_ there is. If we have to use Isa again…"

"Don't even _think _about it," said Julian in a growl, pulling her closer.

She smiled up at him. "Last resort only, I promise. But what else can we do?"

It was Summer, amazingly, who came up with the idea.

"Julian… What about Nauthiz? The rune of containment? What exactly would it contain?"

His eyes widened. "Anything…"

"And your Shadow Dude magic works here, too?" Asked Michael, catching on.

He nodded, looking as unconcerned as ever. But a spark was kindling behind his blue eyes. He picked up Dee's knife from where it was lying on the stone, and sliced a cut in his thumb before Jenny could make a move to stop him.

"You didn't have to –"

He smiled. "It's not a problem." The liquid, diamond-like substance was dripping from the cut, but he didn't appear pained.

Carefully, Julian traced a backward-leaning X on the stone. It sparkled in the diffuse light, casting tiny glimmers across the group's faces.

"Nauthiz," he whispered, and a silence seemed to echo.

Then the water stopped moving.

Jenny could still see it, but the clear pool was a form of stone itself. It didn't ripple, or shift, or move in any way Jenny associated with water. It just _was_.

And now there was room to crawl out through the tunnel.

She heard Dee take a deep breath – the first in the time they'd been underground, she suspected – and then the sound of a rockfall.

Julian brushed his hand over her shoulder. Jenny leaned into him, then slipped

Then she slipped into the rocky tunnel.


	19. Fire

**I still love reviews! They keep my spirits up!**

**I own nothing!**

Jenny was crawling through a landscape of solid water. What would happen if Julian lost the spell and it suddenly became UN-solid, she didn't want to think about.

Not that there would be any better way to drown than with Julian.

She couldn't seem to stop herself from looking back at him, over and over and over. After having him torn away from her, and all the dreams she had had, Jenny was sure that if she took her eyes away, she would wake up crying in her room.

She thought Julian could see that in her eyes, because every so often he would flash his predatory smile and squeeze her hand. His light touch sent tremors through her heart. Strange how such a dangerous feeling reassured her.

But as they continued, Julian's face became more and more strained. When she met his eyes, they were glazed. Even a Shadow Man couldn't change the natural order of things for long.

Jenny reached out to Michael, in front of her, and gestured back, trying to convey her message without speaking. _He can't hold this up for long. We have to hurry!_

She watched as her message traveled up the line. But all she could see around her was dark water, no light, no stone. She held tightly to Julian's hand, trying to feed him strength.

But of course, it was never that easy.

The dark water around them was slowly lightening when he started to shake. Jenny whirled around, willing him to hold on, hold on!

But then she saw the shadows.

Dark shapes were writhing around Julian, anchoring him in place and gagging his mouth, as liquid and mutable as quicksilver. Jenny realized she was screaming as he started to fight, light emanating from between the dark patches. She pulled frantically at the shadows, watching as he became weaker.

"No!" She yelled, "You are NOT giving up again!" She reached out desperately to the others. "Fire! I need fire!"

Michael gasped and pulled a lighter from the cargo pants that he had filled before entering Niflheim. It flew towards Jenny as she scrambled for it.

"I'm so, so sorry, Julian," she whispered as she held the flame to his pale skin. He cried out in pain as the fire burned… burned the shadows away. It took several minutes, during which Jenny felt every wince and shout. Finally, he looked up in exhaustion – but free exhaustion. Burn marks crossed his arms and legs.

"Giving up _again, _you say?" The elemental voice asked sardonically.

Jenny started to laugh – harder and harder. It was a laugh of such relief that she didn't know how to express it – until Julian grabbed her around the waist and kissed her hard. Forgetting where they were, she kissed him back with everything she had.

And then he lost control of the spell.


	20. Water

**Come on; don't make the little button on the bottom feel rejected! :) :) :)**

**Characters aren't mine.**

Jenny was surrounded in water. One minute it had been Julian's strong arms – the next, they had been whirled apart on the current of too much restrained liquid, finally set free.

_Ugh, Jenny! You are so stupid!_ Her consciousness berated her. _You could have put everyone else in danger, distracting him like that –_

But a little corner of her mind wondered if it was worth it.

She struck out desperately for the surface.

Just a few more strokes…a few more…a few more…

Black spots were swimming around her eyes.

A few more…

~o~

When her head broke through, the first thing she felt were his arms pulling her to the rocky shore.

"Are you all right? Jenny?" His voice was close to panicked, blue eyes wide. "Please, tell me you're all right!" She nodded, gasping at the air. Julian sighed in relief.

She allowed herself to lean into him as they swam towards the shore and the others' heads came plunging through the water. Looking up, Jenny was amazed to see that the entire roof of the cave had collapsed into pieces. They had left the grotto just in time, as well – she saw the rubble of their cave below the surface.

She realized that Julian had pulled her to a long, flat rock at the edge of the lake and was looking at her as though trying to determine that she was entirely unhurt. An angry red burn mark was still crossing his otherwise-perfect face. She smiled gently upward, but stopped short of kissing him, as her friends were scrambling up the stone.

Michael pushed sopping hair out of his eyes. He looked incredibly pissed.

"Jenny! There is a time and place to kiss Julian. While we are under thirty feet of water and our survival depends on his concentration? NOT THE TIME!"

She nodded, slightly abashed.

Dee looked equally annoyed, though she had been the one to fare best with the sudden threat of drowning.

"He's right. We're glad you're alive and all, but really, Jenny!"

She nodded again, though Julian looked unashamed. "You could leave us alone for a while," he said in his elemental voice. "Let us get it all out of our systems." She shivered as his hand moved gently over the edge of her hair.

"No," said Zach definitively. "We're getting out together. After that I don't care what you do, but not when it could cost us our lives."

Jenny nodded, ashamed of herself. But not _too _much so.

"Well then." She reluctantly got to her feet. "Let's get out of here before the shadows notice we're still alive. We've got a long way to go."


	21. Gold

**Reviews are wonderful things that make my day :) sad but true; if I get a review I'm happy all day. So please cheer me up, because I'm greedy!**

**I own nothing! Besides a few evil shadow-things.**

Jenny looked around from her perch on the stone shore. Now that they were out of the lake, she could see the extent of the damage she'd triggered by stealing the runestave. (The runestave that was now at the bottom of the lake.) Chunks of rock, some almost ten feet tall, seemed to have fallen out of the ceiling. The eerie silver light was gone, and the only illumination came from the exit.

She shuddered to think what would have happened if the stone spears had fallen while they were still in the cave.

"Come on," said Dee's voice from the darkness. Turning, Jenny could barely see her high features.

Clinging to the walls, they started to move towards the empty tunnel. Every so often, Summer would trip or Zach would stumble, but they kept steady progress – until they saw exactly what they were heading for.

The light in the tunnel wasn't from nearby daylight. It was a glistening, shining crystal, rearing shadows against the stone walls. And the shadows were moving _much_ too much to be natural.

Zach cursed violently.

Jenny felt Julian's warm presence behind her, but didn't turn. Instead, they started creeping back down, into the shadows cast by the rock…but then, that wasn't the best idea either.

She looked around desperately, wondering why she hadn't thought of this scenario before. There _had_ to be a way out. Somewhere…

But all she saw were bare stone cliffs.

"Please tell me you have another lighter, Michael," she whispered. "Or a flashlight. Or a damn firework, even!"

He shook his head. "Lighter used. Flashlight dead from being dunked underwater. No firework. Any other ideas?"

She moaned quietly, and felt on her hand for Julian's ring. The remembrance that she had the real thing now made her smile and lean into him, but didn't stop the panic when she realized it wasn't there. Not THERE?

_Oh, God. What did I DO? Where could it be?_ And shortly following, _Could this situation get any worse?_

Suddenly a flash of memory hit her. Dee! Dee had it.

"Dee," she whispered hoarsely, "the ring."

Her friend stiffened. "The ring! It was…oh, no."

Jenny didn't need to ask what. She remembered as well – Julian rising from the water. Her hysterical happiness. The clang of metal on stone – as Dee dropped the ring.

Dropped the ring.

"How could you, Dee?" She was close to hysteria now. "You…it…"

Dee had dropped her head into her hands, but Jenny was in no condition to be compassionate.

"You dropped it. It's gone because of you!"

Julian wrapped her in his arms. "Shh, Jenny. I can make you another, a thousand if you want them. It was a trinket…" But his voice faltered, because they both knew that it wasn't "just a trinket." It was the embodiment of the Games, and love, and courage.

He wiped the tears from her face, and smiled when no more came. "I am NEVER leaving."

She nodded against him.

But then Summer realized something that made them all stop dead.

"Jenny! Remember how you were able to put your hand through the shadows? It was the hand with the ring, wasn't it?"

She froze.

"Julian – what was the ring made out of?"

"I – gold. Why?"

And suddenly, Jenny had a crazy idea.


	22. Revelation

**I still do not own these characters!**

"Okay," said Jenny, still looking at the shadows out of the corners of her eyes. "Here's my plan."

"So Summer was remembering that when I was wearing the ring, I was kind of immune to the shadows. And we think that that's because it was made of gold. Like light-metal."

The others nodded, warily.

"So what we need to do is somehow get the shadows into contact with gold. Or, even better, protect ourselves with it."

They waited. "And then…" Audrey ventured after a while.

"And then I have no idea."

"You do know we have no gold anymore, right?"

"Right."

"So you intend to do this how?"

"God, Audrey, I don't know! But it's more than we had a minute ago."

Zach shrugged. "If it happened to be at all applicable in this situation, then it might work."

Jenny sighed. "Well, if anyone has a better idea…"

No one did, besides a halfhearted "we could wait for them to go away." From Michael, of course. She glared.

But before she could tell him to be quiet, a noise caught her attention. Apparently the others heard it too – and they all turned immediately towards the shadows.

A figure was fighting its way through to the cave. Jenny registered with amazement that it seemed to be human.

Summer started, having come to the same conclusion. "We need to go help!"

Dee stuck out an arm, signaling to wait. "Whoever they are, they could mean us more harm than we're already facing. Better not to chance it."

Julian was looking pensive, frowning in the direction of the fight. As they watched, the figure seemed to be…winning? How could it be WINNING?

Then she realized that it had a large lantern, swinging around in a large circle, keeping them at bay. And as it did…the shape lunged forward and shattered the silver crystal. The shadows vanished. And the figure looked directly at them.

That was when Summer gasped.

"Tom?"


	23. Agreement

**I own nothing! Not even Julian. (Or I wouldn't be wasting time writing this!)**

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Jenny stared in utter amazement. Summer was right. Standing there was none other than Tom Locke – the only person she _didn't _want to see.

"What are _you_ doing here?" She asked, the fury in her voice slightly marred by surprise.

"Well, you haven't been seen since Saturday, any of you. So I started thinking about what you said and if you really were going to…" he broke off as he suddenly seemed to realize that Julian was there. Tom suddenly looked as though he might hit the Shadow man, especially when he saw their entwined hands. Instead he turned away with a furious scowl.

"Going to bring him back," he said to the floor.

Audrey looked thoughtful. "It was you who opened the cell, wasn't it? In Niflheim?"

He nodded. "Though I lost track of you when the shadows started chasing after everyone. It took me all this time to figure out where you were."

Despite herself, Jenny felt a flash of relief when she realized that Tom hadn't seen anything that had happened since Julian had been reborn. Though she didn't feel anything for him anymore, she didn't want to hurt him any more than necessary. Not to mention stop Julian from doing so.

She mumbled a "Thank you," though after their last phone conversation, Jenny didn't feel like speaking at all.

Julian simply glared.

Dee looked from one to the other and sighed. Now that Tom was there, none of them seemed to have any idea what to do. She got up and moved towards the tunnel. "If you're going to be like this all the way back, it's going to be a long trip."

She strode off without a backward glance, followed by Michael, Summer, Audrey, and Zach. Jenny and Julian exchanged glances, and trailed after. Tom brought up the rear, his hazel eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

It was a somber procession that wound through the tunnel. Finally Tom lengthened his stride until he was even with Jenny.

"We need to talk," he said, voice level. She nodded evenly.

"So talk."

Julian rolled his eyes, but looked more patient than she had expected.

He leaned down and gave her a soft, long kiss. "I'll be up ahead." She looked after him for a few seconds before forcing her gaze back to Tom.

"Well?"

He looked at her with a bitter expression twisting his handsome features, but didn't say anything hurtful or cruel. He didn't speak at all.

She sighed. "Tom –" But he shook his head.

Finally, he looked back up. "I guess I always figured this would happen. Just… don't forget that I'm still here, okay?"

She blinked slowly.

"I mean, we still went through everything and all that – I mean… it's all right for us to split. That isn't it. Just don't ever let him hurt you. And I'm still here to talk to."

Jenny nodded. She suddenly felt as though a huge burden had been lifted off of her. "Thank you, Tom," she said, meaning it this time. "For…understanding."

He nodded, a tiny smile on his lips. She turned away.

And now, the only things they had to worry about were their lives.

**How is it? You know how to tell me what you think! (Pushhh…the…button…)**


	24. Warning

**Not my characters, not my setting :( But all my story!**

**Another shout out to mandidawna – yay! Thank you for reviewing most of anyone so far! I love all my reviewers! **

**And on to the story…**

Jenny was back to walking beside Julian, their hands entwined, and eventually her head on his strong shoulder as she got more and more exhausted. Her brief rest in the cell seemed eons apart from her now, and she was almost sure that the tunnel hadn't been this long while they were running down it.

Now they had to scramble up and over every fallen rock, every ditch, and every crevice. Summer was barely conscious, her tiny body not strong enough to take this on such little rest, and Michael was gasping. Jenny, for one, was sure that if she stopped she would never start again.

Julian's support was the only thing keeping her going, as it was.

Finally, they saw the long upward spiral of the world-bridge. Summer promptly collapsed into the ground, looking up through glazed eyes. Zach helped her to her feet, only to sink to the rocks himself.

The sentiment was echoed everywhere, as it seemed that Tom and Dee, the athletes, were the only ones who could move at all.

All in all, it seemed that they were in no condition to fight, should something happen. Which was why NOTHING was going to happen. They were going to get out. Get into their own world. It was all going to be fine.

So Jenny repeated to herself, over and over.

"But, oh, Jenny dear," said a voice like an ice floe breaking, "Don't you know not to lie to yourself?"

~0~0~0~

Julian was on his feet in front of her in an instant. "Don't touch her!"

"Good to see _you_ back again, Julian," said another of the ten shadows that had gathered around. "I assume they were the ones to… remake you?"

Julian nodded coldly.

"And it's none of your claim. Not anymore."

One tall shadow laughed eerily, its feral eyes flashing.

"Ah, but the infamous Jenny Thornton ... and her Shadow lover. Now _this_ is a prize worth having. Do you not agree?"

"There are laws," spat Julian. "Even you can't change that." His arms wrapped protectively around her.

"Perhaps not," purred yet another beast, "but there is always a loophole."

Jenny winced. She had seen far too much of the Shadow Men's "loopholes" when Julian had died.

"So don't get too comfortable," sighed the original speaker. "Moving shadows are nothing – and we're moving into the endgame."

On that note, the grisly forms of the beings melted away – into darkness.


	25. Opportunity

**Thank Yous for all my readers!**

**I own no characters.**

Jenny was shaking. Somewhere outside her field of vision, Summer was sobbing quietly. She started as Julian's arms pulled her closer, but then leaned into him. She realized that he was speaking softly.

"They are _never_ getting close to you. Do you hear me, Jenny? Never."

She nodded into his chest, though she knew that there was nothing he could do to stop them. She couldn't help the tears that slipped out of her eyes. Jenny had never liked the thought of her own death – but whatever the Shadow Men did to them would be much worse than simply leaving the world.

She started to shake harder, the air coming through her lungs having no effect on her sudden panic. Julian stroked her back until she could breathe, trembling a little himself.

What finally convinced her to stand was the knowledge that whatever they did to her, she still had him. She had already been through hell and back and come out the other side. She was her only master.

Jenny got up. She pulled Julian to his feet. She wiped the leftover tears from her eyes. Then she smiled a weary smile, casting a glance to the others. Most of them were curled on the stone, or staring blankly into space. She sighed.

"Well, whether they come after us or not, the door's right there."

Dee looked up, eyes glazed.

"Whatever they do…they'll have to do it outside this cavern. Because I'm not staying here another minute."

Dee started to smile. "Well, then." She got to her feet with her usual catlike grace. "Rise and shine, people!"

Michael stared as if she'd grown another head. "Rise and shine? Rise and shine? We're gonna DIE!"

Dee laughed. "Yup, most likely. But may as well do it standing up!" When her less-than-inspiring statement failed, she grabbed him under the armpits and physically dragged him to an upright position. "Get up!"

He got up. Dee moved immediately to Audrey. "On your feet, soldier!"

Audrey scrambled up before the now-maniacally-laughing Dee could touch her. Jenny was laughing as well, swaying giddily. Julian steadied her, and she didn't mind a bit when _his _hands lingered. She longed to kiss him again, but after their last warning… and besides, now Dee had shepherded everyone to their feet and the mouth of the cave.

Opportunity missed. 

"Ah, not so fast, Jenny," said Julian quietly, as she turned to leave. Before she could react, he pulled her face to his and gave her a long, passionate kiss.

Then again…


	26. Tears

**Any and all Characters – not mine! I love them anyway.**

**Reviewing welcome!**

Jenny was laboring up the rocky slide that had terrified her such a long time ago. Was it only a few hours? She felt like years had gone by… or centuries…

Her thoughts were starting to grow foggy. Maybe they would fall off the bridge altogether…would that be so bad? _Yes… _said her consciousness, but it wouldn't provide a reason why. This annoyed her…

Jenny's knees started to buckle underneath her, and she was falling… Into Julian's arms. He supported her easily, but a worried look crossed his face. "We need to stop."

She nodded vaguely, leaning against him. Even the familiar thrill of adrenaline wasn't enough to jolt her out of the fog of exhaustion.

Summer had collapsed an hour ago, and Zach was carrying her. She couldn't have weighed much, but he was nonetheless flagging. Audrey and Michael were looking equally weak.

"Here," suggested Tom. "There's shelter, at least." He was standing in a hollow of rocks off of the main path. It _was_ a decent camp – as long as they ignored the infinite drop a few feet away.

Jenny was tired enough to do that.

She slumped to the cold stone, huddling into her sweater. It might have been June, but it wasn't registering in Svartalfheim. Julian sat next to her, and she reflexively grabbed his shirt. "Don't leave."

He smiled. "Of course not."

His face was the last thing she saw as she drifted into sleep.

~0~0~0~0~

And when she woke up, she had no idea where she was. It seemed like their camp – but their camp wasn't this large…and where were the others?

"Ah, yes. Hello, Jenny." Said a voice in her ear. She leaped away – and found herself face-to face with a Shadow Man.

"Welcome to your worst nightmare."

Jenny lost track of what happened then. When she remembered it, it was a haze of pain, of opening her eyes and seeing herself, lying naked in a pool of blood. Of feeling her bones crack under the shadow's expert hands.

Sometimes there were more. Sometimes, she thought she saw a flash of blue eyes under black lashes.

"Please, Julian!" She sobbed. "Don't!"

He turned away. "Break her."

Those were the times she screamed the most.

~0~0~0~0~

When Jenny came back to herself, she didn't dare open her eyes, sure that if she did, her next torture would start.

It didn't.

Slowly, she levered herself up. Looked down. She was unhurt – at least on the outside. Julian was still asleep, curled against a rock. His expression was agonized.

Jenny forced the memory of her dream away. Instead, she ran to him. "Julian! Julian, it's only a dream. Wake up, Julian!"

His eyes snapped open. Took in her face, unwounded. Suddenly, she was engulfed in his arms.

"Jenny. Jenny." His voice was shattered. "I was… the cave…did you…? I'm so sorry!"

She nodded. "It was dreams. Only dreams."

He held her tighter, breathing raggedly. Tiny salt drops fell to her face. She reached up and kissed them away.

"They want to break our minds, Julian. Don't let them."

He nodded, still holding her to him. "Not a chance."


	27. Offense

**I don't own these characters; I'm not L.J Smith :) I just like to pretend!**

**Reviews are amazing!**

**Sorry for the delay – I was on supervising duty for my little sister's Scout troop. No time to write. But it's here now!**

Jenny looked around after forcing herself away from Julian. Even now, he remained lost in thought, leaning against the rock. But though Jenny longed to go back and speak to him, she couldn't leave her friends in the terrible place she'd been forced to endure.

Even now, their unconscious expressions ranged from terrified to agonized to furious. She shook their shoulders, poked their sides, anything to get them out of that dream.

They came awake slowly. Audrey looked around and burst into tears. Zach leapt to his feet and stared frantically, trying to locate his attacker. Tom hissed something too low to hear and pulled away from the group. Summer was in hysterics.

Jenny tried to comfort them as best she could. In the end, though, all she could do was repeat over and over – "It was a dream. Only a dream. It wasn't real."

Dee moaned and dropped her head into her hands. "Never again. Never again." Tears leaked from between her fingers.

"We know how they're trying to break us," said Tom, unusually pale. "Through our own minds."

Jenny nodded. "We can't let them do that. We have to get out. Into our world. Or…something."

Julian shook his head, rising slowly. "That won't stop them." He stood at her side, still shaking. "We need to take this to the source."

The others looked on in various stages of confusion to understanding. Finally Zach spoke.

"They aren't going to just give up."

A nod from Julian.

"No matter if we escape or not. This isn't going to stop."

Another nod.

"So…what, exactly?"

Julian looked pensive, then smiled a dangerous smile. "So now…we go on the offensive."


	28. Scream

**Still don't own characters! **

Jenny looked around. The feeling she had had as the others planned to rescue Julian was back – but this time she was an active part.

They hadn't left the path – apparently getting back to their own world was now a minor priority. The ideas circling around – in varying shades of ridiculous – were taking up every bit of concentration they could spare.

Jenny leaned back into Julian's side. There seemed to be no point in reminding them that they had nothing to go on the offensive _with_. Instead, she preoccupied herself with remembering scenes from the Games – and inventing a few new ones.

She was so entranced with the way Julian's breath lifted his chest that she didn't notice herself drifting into sleep…

…

The Shadow Men were back. Jenny clamped her lips shut. She would not scream. She would not scream. She would not scream.

Then a thin flame brushed into her eyes and she felt the skin char.

_I will not scream! I will not scream!_

The shadows were coming… she felt a cut open along her face, blood dripping down. Pain following its path – down and down – The shadow bared its fangs and leaned forward…

_DON'T SCREAM!_

…

"Jenny! Jenny!" Julian's azure eyes were panicked. He pulled her to him, and she sobbed unashamedly.

"No…" she whispered.

He stroked her back, ignoring the others. "It wasn't real. You're fine, it wasn't real."

She shook her head into his chest, clinging to him and soaking his shirt with tears. She had the vague feeling that she would hate herself for being so weak – but this was so far out of the realm of normal that no normal rules seemed to apply anymore.

So she let herself be comforted in his arms, only looking up when several minutes had passed. Julian sighed in relief. "We need to do something. This can't keep happening!"

Looks of agreement.

Jenny wiped extra tears away. "We need to get back. We can't do anything on a bridge between worlds with Shadow Men attacking us!"

Dee sighed. "You're right… but I'm not looking forward to the explanations we'll have to give. It's been what, four days we've been here? Not to mention him."

She jerked a finger towards Julian.

Jenny shrugged. "Where we are now we have nothing. In our world, we have so many resources that we could drown in them."

Dee grimaced. "Fine…but we'll have to find them from inside, because I'll never be allowed outside of my house again."

A quiet laugh slipped between her teeth. "Just as long as we're home."

And that was all it took to continue the journey.


	29. Home

**I own nothing! Please please please review and make my day. Any other authors out there have to know how exciting it is to get a new review!**

Jenny stared at the bridge back. It seemed… odd… that they were just going home. But then, the battle, as the shadows had put it, was only beginning. They might as well fight it on their turf.

Audrey glanced up from under her bangs, now matted from god-knew-how-many days in the other worlds. "Ready?"

Michael squeezed her hand.

And together, they stepped onto the bridge.

~0~0~0~

The eight of them tumbled onto cold tile floor. Looking up, Jenny realized that it was the More Games store – and the door was open. She laughed, pulling Julian to his feet. "Remember this place?"

"Fondly," he said in his usual laconic way, pulling her into an embrace.

"Later," snapped Dee, pulling her away. "We have to get back to our houses before…" She then seemed to realize exactly how long it had been. "Shit. What am I going to DO?"

"Go home?" suggested Summer, pulling open the door. "'Cause that's what I'm doing. I _miss _everyone." She looked vaguely put out.

Zach laughed and followed her. The others scrambled for the door, leaving Jenny and Julian – slightly – alone.

She took his hand, ignoring the thrill moving up her arm from the contact. She was just leaning upward to kiss him when Dee came back in and rolled her eyes. "Do you two _ever_ think about anything else? We need to leave!"

"You can wait a few minutes," mumbled Jenny, stretching back up.

"No we can't! Come on."

She tore herself away, following Dee out and to a much less fun activity – explaining exactly where she had been for the last four days. This was not going to end well.

~0~0~0~0~

"I cannot believe that even after we've shown that we could trust you – even after that escapade in Pennsylvania – you throw it back in our faces!"

Jenny winced. Her parents' anger wasn't something she had ever wanted to face, but now it seemed even worse. What she needed was a long hot shower, and then – finally – time with Julian. _Alone_.

They weren't agreeing with these plans.

"You are clearly not deserving of the kind of trust we put in you. If the last time we tried…"

Jenny fought the urge to brush them off and lost. "Look. I need a shower. Can we discuss my punishment tomorrow?"

They seemed to swell with anger.

"I'll take that as a no. Look, you're within your rights to do whatever. But I am within my rights for some time to myself. I'm sorry I upset you," she added as an afterthought, "but it really was my only choice!"

With that, she turned on her heel and stomped upstairs.


	30. Love

**Reviewers are all wonderful people! (And yes, I will keep dropping hints.)**

**I don't own the characters.**

**And finally, finally, Jenny/Julian get their reunion without anyone else interrupting!**

Jenny was finally clean. Her long honey-colored hair was finally untangled. Her parents were downstairs and hadn't spoken to her since her outburst of independence. She was the most comfortable she'd been in… months, she thought.

She was also waiting for Julian.

He didn't take long.

She had only been sitting in her room for a minute when he came through the door, as graceful as always.

She sprang to her feet. "I don't know how you got in here, and I don't care."

He laughed melodiously. "It involved a bit of magic."

Jenny shrugged and pulled him into her arms. "You know… my parents are still in the other side of the house and won't come back anytime soon. And Dee isn't here to interrupt us…"

He flashed his dangerous smile, and Jenny tried to remember how to talk. But it turned out she didn't need to as he pressed his lips to hers.

This was so different; to kiss Julian without being afraid, without wondering what trick he would pull next. This was a kiss of pure love – no hidden motives, no sort of plots. She never, ever wanted him to stop, but he pulled away after only a few seconds.

She shook her head in amazement. His impossibly blue eyes were burning with that familiar look of passion that she had seen in her memories so often. The joy she felt was too strong to be real – and the only way to check it was to pull his face back to hers. Which she had no problem with doing.

His lips were incredibly soft to express the love she tasted on them.

After far too short a time, they broke apart. He smiled, a look of such happiness on his features that she couldn't resist reaching out to touch his face. Julian.

She smiled. "I've figured something out."

"Oh?"

"Mm-hmm. I love you."

He laughed again. "You have no_ idea _how long I've waited to hear you say that."

And he pulled her up for another kiss.

~0~0~0~

Jenny was yawning. She hadn't slept at all for the past eight hours – and she was glad of it, considering what happened when she tried. They had kept each other awake all night – more and more creatively – but Jenny wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out.

She was equally relieved and disappointed to see that it was time to leave. Julian traced his fingers lightly across her face. "Ready?"

She nodded, and then shook her head. "Maybe?"

A long kiss later, she glared at him playfully. "You're not helping."

"Sorry. Let's go before I decide to keep you here forever. I'm seriously considering it."

She got up with a sigh and trotted downstairs, leaving a note on the table –

_Sorry I was so snappy last night. I left early for school. Love you, Jenny._

Then she turned and left her house.


	31. Before

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Jenny looked around the school parking lot, desperately fighting the urge to close her eyes. Julian stood beside her, exhaustion showing in his face. The sight of him in such an everyday place as school made the whole thing feel surreal.

Spotting Michael, she made her way over. He seemed to be trembling – then Jenny realized that it was the effects of whatever caffeine-loaded thing he had taken to stop his need to sleep.

The others, gathered around his car, were in no better shape. Dee took a long drink of Carbo Force and blinked, apparently barely registering their arrival. "Let's ditch, _nicht wahr_?" Asked Audrey. "If we're facing…those…I don't want to do it separately."

A nod from Zach. "We can't just stop sleeping. We might as well get what we need and get going."

"Which is Gold – and fire."

Audrey touched a gold necklace that she had brought, and a bag of matchbooks. "We're going on the offensive."

~0~0~0~0~

Michael had driven his car to an empty stretch of grass. Jenny clung both to her matches and Julian's hand, looking around at where they would fight. Even the thought made her shake.

_I am ready. I am ready. _

She looked at her friends – Summer. Audrey. Dee. Michael. Zach. Tom. …Julian.

They looked back, with brown eyes and green ones and one pair the shade of dawn in June.

"Seems a little anticlimactic," said Michael, voice breaking nervously. He squeezed Audrey's hand. "Now or never?"

Universal agreement. Jenny curled into the seat and looked up at Julian. "Do _not _let go of me."

He pulled her closer.

And she let herself fall into unconsciousness.

_I am ready…_


	32. Despair

**See other disclaimers!**

Jenny didn't stop falling. Falling and falling and falling… she felt for Julian's hand, trying to break through the fog. But it only got thicker…

"Well, look who's back again," purred the now-familiar voice of her captor. "I think we can have a bit more fun by now…"

She stared wildly around, trying to locate the sound. Then a thin blade seemed to slip down her side. She felt blood stain her skin. "Don't touch me!"

"Oh?" asked the voice, and she suddenly felt reminded of Julian. She kicked out in response, trying to connect with something – anything – solid.

"But…" sighed the voice, "If you insist…"

Suddenly she connected with a stone floor, feeling the bones in her hands and knees shatter. Gasping in pain, she rolled to her side – only to catch a glimpse of a familiar figure, bound to the wall.

"How about I touch _him_?"

"Julian!" she screamed, but he didn't respond. Instead, the shadow raked a blade down his face. Blood seeped down as Jenny desperately tried to get to her feet. Fire. Light. She needed both.

She tried to move her ruined hands to her pocket. Matches. She had to get them. But the pain of her broken bones was threatening to consume her.

Julian screamed, the sound tearing through her worse than the pain in her limbs. Fire and light. Fire and light.

And then they were gone.

Jenny was alone again, watching ice-cold water rising higher and higher. It would only take a few minutes to reach her… and a shadow was coming clearer…it smiled with a mouth full of fangs, and reached out.

Jenny lost track of time after that… her only thought that it would be over. It would be over. Forget the matches, it would all be over if she just held on…

She was back in Michael's car, Julian leaning over her. "Jenny? Are you all right?"

"No," she answered without thinking. "Oh, Julian… is it over?"

"_Oh, Julian… Is it over?" _said a mocking voice. Laughter surrounded her. "It's never over, Jenny dear," said her captor, looking out of Julian's eyes. "Never."

"No!" She reached desperately for the matches, not stopping as her hands screamed in pain.

The shadows laughed again as her voice echoed around the clearing. She had to win! There was no way that this would be the last thing she remembered.

Fighting her way away from the beasts, she started to run. A shadow – Summer blinked wide blue eyes at her. "Oh, no, Jenny, don't run away. After all, we're all you have."

She started to scream. There was no way. How had they ever thought they could take on the Shadow Men? Beings that were hunters, designed to prey on weaker creatures. Like her.

Her scream was the last thing she heard as the shadow – Julian lunged.

**I know – cliffhanger! You know what to do if you want a quick update!**


	33. Hope

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Jenny was staring up at the Shadow – Julian as he leapt forward, his eyes turning from impossible blue to a fiery red. The worst part? She had no idea what to do.

Time seemed to slow down. _How could you think you could beat the Shadow Men? Julian _died, _and all he could do was stop one attack. You aren't near as strong. _

_The only thing you've accomplished is bringing him back into a world where he'll go mad with this torture, or you will._

Tears blurred her vision as the red eyes above her drew closer.

Until they didn't.

Suddenly, the shadows were dissipating. She leapt to her feet in time to see a familiar face. "Julian!"

Blue eyes snapped to her, taking in her broken hands and bleeding face. But the imposters were speaking again.

"You never learn, boy," said the false Audrey. "Luck can only take you so far."

"And yours just ran out," laughed Shadow – Zach.

They started forward. "You were too much trouble, child," said false Tom, as they circled Julian like vultures.

"And what tops it all off?" sang a shadow with Jenny's face, "She would have hated you! A demon from the shadows – what would you offer? You would have only hurt her, until you finally caused her death. Blotted her out for good. Evil by nature, you would kill her."

"We do you a favor," they chanted as one. "Killing you before that."

Julian was shaking. The shadows drew ever closer.

"Perhaps destroying him was too simple, the last time," mused Not-Jenny, her green eyes flashing. "Perhaps we should keep him alive. He would be _very_ useful the way he is, with one or two… changes. Do you disagree?"

"Ah, of course not," smiled "Tom", slipping an arm around her waist. "I think it a _very_ good lesson to the rest of them."

The shadow started forward, baring its fangs, changing form just enough that it still seemed to be _Tom_, yet so different. It was a foot away – an inch away – and then it was a writhing heap on the ground.

Jenny dropped her match and watched it go up in flames.


	34. Please

**Not L.J Smith! And let's get to the story as soon as possible – **

For a moment, all was still as the shadow went up in flames. Jenny fought the blackness at the edge of her vision, trying to stay upright.

Then the attack truly began.

The _things_ – for they no longer bore the remotest resemblance to the group – swarmed over them. Jenny and Julian stood back-to-back; ignoring their wounds as they frantically fended them off.

For a long time, the entire world was darkness and fire. Howling sound wreathed around them with a life of its own. Nothing existed to Jenny but the pressure of Julian's back, the heat of the fire, and the position of her next enemy.

It was only a few minutes later that one cut her across the back of the leg. The flash of pain overwhelmed her as she realized that she physically could no longer stand. Without a sound, she fell to the bloodstained grass.

Julian gasped, immediately positioning himself over her. "Get away!" Desperately, he swatted a creature off of her, pulling her to her feet. She was breathing in short pants, eyes glazed.

Looking up, Jenny saw shadow after shadow, and a pair of azure eyes looking at her in a panic. And… something else…

"Get away from them, you bastards!" Dee was flying into the fray, dark skin shining in the light from the flames. Beside her… were all of them? Even glass-fragile Summer, holding a lighter and glaring through slitted eyes.

Tom cut a glance towards them. "Get her out of here!"

Jenny felt herself moving, the motion sending fiery waves of pain up her leg and hands. Then Julian was leaning over her again.

"Jenny! Jenny, look at me!" She tried to move her eyes, but it seemed too difficult. "Look at me, Jenny!" Warm hands gripped her face.

"Jenny, it's not real. This isn't happening. We need to wake up! Wake up before you die! If you die here, I don't know if you ever will!"

She blinked lazily.

"JENNY! You are not leaving me!"

The voice was so pretty… like water over rocks… there were drops of water falling on her face.

"Jenny…" he gasped out. "Jenny… you saved my life. Twice."

Oh… he was so upset… she tried to move her arm. Maybe if she could do that… she made an effort to gather her thoughts.

If she could only move…

Julian had stopped speaking. She hoped he was all right. She started to sit up, only to fall back under the wave of pain.

"Jenny! Jenny!" He was sobbing, rocking her back and forth. She tried to shake her head. _No. Don't. I'm all right. Don't cry._

But it was so cold. So very cold. She tried to find her hands. Where were they? She couldn't find anything… did she even exist anymore?

Julian screamed. It was an animal sound, full of such pain that it stabbed through Jenny's heart.

Her heart. She could feel it. She could feel it! The stabs of pain that ran up and down her broken body. She reached out… and was amazed when her hand actually moved, sending another wave of pain through her.

She opened her eyes – and found herself in Michael's car.

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	35. Win

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Jenny's eyes snapped open at the same time Julian's did. She was gasping, shaking so hard she thought she would shatter into pieces.

Julian crossed the car in an instant, ignoring the others' sleeping bodies. "Jenny!" He gently supported her head as she shook, desperately clinging to his arm.

"Here, don't move. Just relax. I… I thought I'd lost you."

She leaned into him until she felt she could breathe, and then closed her eyes, trying to make herself believe that none of it had been real. When she opened them again, Julian was looking at her, holding her gently. She fought the urge to cry. If she cried, she wouldn't be able to see him properly. That must never happen.

So she choked out a passable laugh, instead. "This seems awfully familiar. Have we done this before?"

Julian laughed a long laugh of utter relief and pulled her closer. "It does ring a bell." For a minute, they were both lost in memories of the third Game. Jenny started to relax, leaning back.

"Just…never, ever do that to me again," he said into her hair. "Ever."

"I don't plan to." She closed her eyes again, completely content to be here in his arms. If she stayed there forever, that was fine by her.

It could have been a minute or an hour that passed as they simply stayed in an embrace. Time didn't seem to matter. Only the fact that they were both alive and in no immediate danger.

Finally, Jenny relaxed enough that she could separate from him. She looked at her hands, unscathed, and felt at her clean face. She leaned forward and kissed Julian, whispering a "thank you" when they broke apart.

It was only after they had time for a few more kisses that the others woke up. Jenny looked around, suddenly afraid again. "Are…did…is…"

Dee punched the air and leaned back, laughing hysterically. "We. Kicked. Ass."

Michael grinned. "We WON. We actually WON. And it wouldn't have happened if not for everyone."

Jenny looked around in growing amazement. "You mean…"

Julian laughed as well, and the atmosphere was suddenly jubilant. "We just… killed… eight Shadow Men."

"We DID!" Summer was giggling. "We won! We won!"

When Jenny and Julian kissed this time, no one objected, not even Dee. Indeed, they were all so happy that even Tom didn't give them as much as a sideways look.

So they missed the tiny, withered creature that looked at them, and then scampered away.


	36. Price

**Hooray for everyone who read the last updates!**

**Getting on towards the end…**

**See all the zillion disclaimers!**

The sounds of celebration were enough to wake the whole town. But… was it night? Jenny wasn't at all surprised to find that they'd been in the shadow world for a full twelve hours, but she did recall saying that she'd be back after school. Somehow, this escapade wasn't going to improve her relationship with her parents.

Still, if they were all alive and sane? Definitely worth it.

She leaned back into the seat, still not entirely recovered from her close brush with death. _That_ was something she never wanted to do again. Looking around, she saw that there seemed to be a full-on party in Michael's car.

She smiled quietly, letting the realization that they no longer had anything to fear sweep through her mind. Julian wrapped an arm around her, looking equally relieved and calm.

And then they heard a cold, cruel laugh that was entirely different from the jubilance of their group.

Julian was immediately out of the car and on his feet. The tiny, withered _thing_ that was watching them seemed to smile. "Well, there you are, young one. I must say I'm impressed. Not many can dispatch eight of us at our strongest."

Julian hissed, a feral sound that forcibly reminded Jenny that he was not, and would never be, human.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing but a small payment. You see, Julian, those were quite…useful to me."

With this, Jenny realized that this ancient creature was some sort of leader. It had power over the others. How, and how much, she had no idea.

"And you see," it was continuing, "there just don't seem to be as many opportunities. And as impressed as I might be… everything has a price."

"And what's yours?" Asked Dee, leaning into a crouch.

"Ah, perhaps the power I lost. Perhaps the lives that were stolen. It all depends on what can be… given."

The last word seemed to echo in the darkness. _Given._

Suddenly, Julian straightened, a look of shock and fury rolling across his face.

"And if I decline?"

"Then…" the fetus-thing laughed a bubbling laugh. Suddenly, Jenny was on the ground, tied by bonds of shadow. She tried to scream, but the choking darkness fell into her open mouth, stopping the sound in its tracks.

"Then it'll be her who pays the price. And a _very_ different one than the sort I have for you." The thing's hands slipped over her face – and down across her chest. Lower… Jenny struggled frantically, still bound.

Julian's eyes widened.

"No! I… I accept my price. On the condition…"

The thing stopped, looking up towards them.

"That you never come near us again."

It cackled. "Ah, yes. Agreed!"

And Julian crumpled to the ground.

**So what's Julian's price? Review and it comes even faster!**


	37. Gift

**See other disclaimers!**

**I LOVE MY REVIEWS!**

**bloodyxfangs – no, but I hope this takes you by surprise!**

**And finally, this is the last chapter besides the epilogue!**

"Paid!" laughedthe Shadow Man, vanishing into thin air. Jenny's bonds vanished with him, and she ran to the spot of grass where Julian was gasping in pain.

Flashbacks of the horrible time – their last days in Joyland Park – threatened to pull her under.

"Julian! Julian…"

He looked up at her, eyes glazed. "It's all right. It's not… the same. I…"

She reached across his chest, realizing that it was shaking. "What's happening?"

He grimaced. "I only…gave up… my power. I'll live."

She blinked. "Are you okay? Are you going to be okay? What do you mean, you _gave up _your power?"

A nod, but speaking seemed to be beyond him. He was shaking harder now, and…glowing?

No, not glowing exactly. More like that there was light, falling away – not shadows. Not darkness. Light. Before her eyes, the golden light seemed to envelop him, stronger and stronger – until it separated. He fell to the ground, gasping in a breath that anchored him to the world.

"What the hell is going on?" Jenny ran to him, supporting him in her arms. "Julian!"

As she held him, the last of the fading light brushed over her arms. It tingled, giving a feeling of pure, strong power that slipped up her arms and settled in her heart. She stiffened in amazement, trying not to drop him. No time to wonder about it now. She needed an explanation.

He smiled a weary smile, the last traces of pain gone. "I'm really all right. What happened – well, the price for their deaths was my power or your body. I gave them my power."

She blinked. "So…you mean…"

A laugh that was still melodious, still enchanting, but somehow no longer unearthly escaped his lips. "I'm not a Shadow Man, not anymore. I'm mortal."

She stared. And stared again. For a minute, it was entirely silent. Then she grabbed him in a tight embrace and kissed him passionately.

"You…gave up… your _self_… so I wouldn't get hurt? You're… _mortal_?" Jenny wrapped her arms tighter around him. "I…"

The sheer selflessness of the act took her breath away. She had no idea that that could happen… and once it had, she was so happy that she couldn't express it enough.

She pulled him to his feet and kissed him again, long and hard. The future – now that they _had _one – was looming up, full of possibilities. She could know Julian. Fall in love with him all over again.

This was one time that she knew she would always remember.

Remember.


	38. Epilogue

**Here it is! Last chapter! Hope everyone likes it!**

**I own nothing. **

It had been almost a week since their revelation. _If you could call it that_, thought Jenny as she yawned and sat up in bed.

Her scars – mental and physical – were starting to fade. It still amazed her when she woke without nightmares, without torture.

School had ended only a few days ago. Jenny had had to put her foot down when she realized that Julian didn't know a thing about being human. Though he clearly was familiar with price, the whole concept of money made no sense to him. He didn't understand most human inventions, either.

After an incredibly amusing attempt to put him in a foster home – Jenny was laughing even thinking about it – he decided he had had enough and came up with an enormous diamond from somewhere. Probably something from the More Games store.

After selling that and buying some sort of place to live, he spent most of his time with Jenny. Personally, she would have loved to see his house – still half-expecting a palace – but she was grounded until she moved out herself. Naturally.

This all went through her head as she looked at the ceiling. Julian would probably be here soon… possibly bringing news of the others, all similarly confined. She thought she would just stay where she was and let him find her. That would be nice.

But that plan was shattered by sudden angry beeping and an annoyed voice – one that she recognized very well. Laughing, she rolled to her feet and hurried downstairs, not bothering to change out of her pajamas.

There she found Julian in a stare-off with the microwave oven. She tiptoed up behind him – enjoying the fact that she _could_ go unnoticed – and wrapped her arms around his neck. He jumped a little, and turned around to kiss her.

"Why are you yelling at the microwave?" she asked when she could breathe again.

He laughed. "You woke up when I came into your room, kind of rolled over and said you were hungry. If I could figure this world out, you'd have a feast."

Oh. Jenny didn't remember seeing him, but it did explain the contented feeling she'd woken up with. "You've seen me use it a thousand times!"

"I never did any of this before, though," he explained, teasing her as though this was obvious. "I only ever watched." Jenny rolled her eyes and kissed him again, then smiled mischievously.

"It's all right, I'm not hungry now. Let's go, because I have something you can do. _Definitely_ something you can do."

Lord, could he.

**All right! I just wanted an epilogue, to say everything turned out okay. I also do have ideas for a sequel – but there are a lot of stories that are really better as standalones. So… I'm leaving it up to you! Posted sequel or leave as is? I'll be writing another story anyway, but this determines which. You know how to get your opinions in! **

**In a week or so I'll check for majority and decide then!**


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